


The Last Goodbye In The Universe

by 1f_this_be_madness



Category: The Last Book In The Universe - Rodman Philbrick
Genre: F/M, Gen, Whoa, before college so it's been at least seven now, this is an addendum to The Last Book In The Universe, written several years ago
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2017-05-08
Updated: 2017-05-08
Packaged: 2018-10-29 11:49:53
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: Major Character Death
Chapters: 2
Words: 2,211
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/10853394
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/1f_this_be_madness/pseuds/1f_this_be_madness
Summary: It's the morning after the latch runner brings Spaz a message from Eden, when he receives a surprise visit from an old friend.





	1. Chapter 1

It’s the morning after the latch runner brings me Lanaya’s message, and there’s a tapping on my door. I’m thinking, what’s up now? The Bangers never knock, and I’m about to slam the door open in the face of whoever’s out there, when the person says “Chox!” and then I gasp and my eyes bug out, and the door opens, and in runs Little Face. 

“Chox! Spaz, chox!” He cries. I look up, and there’s Lanaya with a little smile on her face.

“I made sure to teach him your name,” she says. “I figured he should know the name of the person that saved his life.”

“Ryter saved his life,” I go, “Not me. But Ryter’s—”

“Dead, I know.” Lanaya’s lip begins to quiver, and then she starts crying. I’m so shocked I’m standing there like a googan thinking, what’re you doing, you mope. Don’t just let her cry. Pat her on the back or something, but my feet won’t let me move, and then I lurch over and pat her shoulder. She looks at me and then kind of collapses into my arms. Little Face is looking at us like we’re two actors in an old 3D, which makes me realize I’m hugging a proov girl and she’s not telling me to back off. That scares me, so I back up on my own and watch as she collects herself.

“Sorry, Spaz.” she says. “I just can’t believe it. I knew he was old, but he seemed so strong and smart. I didn’t think anyone or anything could hurt him.”

“Yeah, but he didn’t run,” I tell her. “There was a mob when we came back from Eden. The probes got shut off, and they had to have someone to blame. Since we were with you, they came and wheeled the Ryter. I wanted them to wheel me, but Billy Bizmo made sure it was him. Oh, Lanaya,” I go, “I found out that Billy’s my father.”

“Oh,” she goes. “Oh Spaz, I’m so sorry. If I’d tried harder to let you stay in Eden, none of this would have happened. I know we shouldn’t despair, like I wrote to you, but it’s so horrible.” She gasps. “How’s Bean? Nothing’s wrong with her now, right?”

“No, she’s fine. She said she would visit me, but she hasn’t been able to yet. I think Charly will do whatever he can to stop her, but she’ll come anyway. That’s just how Bean is.”

Lanaya gets this fierce look, and she says, “Don’t worry. We’ll go visit her. Little Face has wanted to see you both since you had to leave, and today I bent to his will and came with him.”

Now _I’m _about to go and hug _her, _but I stop myself. It’s just I’m so filled with relief to have my friends back. So I get my carrybag and put my voicewriter in it. Then I find a choxbar and give it to Little Face. “All right, I’m ready to go,” I tell Lanaya, glad she’s here with me again. But then the smile melts off my face as I remember the last time we were together and Ryter was with us. I sigh and we go out and get in Lanaya’s takvee.____

___ _

___***_ _ _

___ _

___As soon as we’re in there Little Face falls asleep, so I have some time to talk with Lanaya._ _ _

_____ _

_____ _

“So, how’s Jin doing? And Bree? No one’s found out about Little Face, right?” I’ve got all these questions about Eden, but Lanaya is calm and she answers all of them. We’re sitting there, comfortable, and the takvee’s taking us to Bean’s latch. Then Lanaya turns and looks at me. She takes my hands, and I’m thinking they’re probably dirty, but she doesn’t seem to mind. She’s looking into my face, and I’m wondering if I’ve got snot up my nose or something, to make her stare at me like that.

Then she tilts her head and says, “You look older, Spaz. A lot older. And it’s only been a few months since you came to Eden!” She kind of laughs and then drops my hands quickly, like she’s embarrassed to be touching a normal. Or maybe it’s just me being embarrassed. Not by touching a proov, but by Lanaya. If Ryter was here he’d spout off some nonsense about true love or something, but it’s just me, and I’m thinking, God, she’s even more beautiful, and I’m still ugly, and I want her to hug me again because it felt good. 

Then I’m slapping myself and muttering, “You mope—don’t go falling in love with some proov girl. It’ll never work out,” and then I realize she’s looking at me. I blush, thinking she’s heard what I said, but she has another reason.

“I heard you’re writing now. Someone told me you were the Ryter, and at first I thought I was wrong and he wasn’t dead, but then I saw you…” Her voice trails off and I’m looking down, thinking she didn’t come to see you, just forget it, but then she’s saying really quick, “Oh Spaz, I wanted to see you, but I didn’t want Ryter to be dead, so I was just wishing.” She smiled and touched my hand. “I’m glad to see you again.” It’s like she means it, and I look up, and there’s this sparkle in her eyes. I can’t figure it out, but then she leans forward and kisses me. It’s a quick kiss, but I feel like I’ve been run over by a jetbike and can’t move. When she backs up and touches her face, I notice she’s blushing, and it makes her look younger, and then I don’t know what I’m doing, but I kiss her again, and she puts her arms around me for a minute.


	2. Chapter 2

Then the takvee’s slowing down, and Little Face wakes up and says “Chox!” and scrambles out of the hatch. Bean, I think, we’re coming to see you, and then there she is, and I’m running and I hug her, and it’s just me and her together again. Then she sees Lanaya and her face lights up. She runs and hugs her too. 

“Lanaya! Spaz! I knew you’d come back! I knew it!” and she’s grinning like crazy, this huge smile splitting her face, and then she sees Little Face too. “Little Face!” Bean shouts and she hugs him and grabs his hands. They dance around in a circle. Then Bean stops and goes, “Spaz, where’s Ryter? I thought he’d be with you.”

I can’t say anything. I just look at her and go, how do I say this? But then it’s like she knows something is wrong, and I have to blurt it out. “Ryter’s gone, Bean. The mob came—I tried to stop them, but…” my voice trails off, and I feel tears in my eyes, but I’m not about to cry, I won’t do it, I won’t. 

“Oh, Spaz,” Bean says, almost like a sigh. “They wheeled him, didn’t they?” I nod jerkily, and she bows her head. Lanaya looks from me to Bean and I see in her face that she’s still surprised at how we normals live. Bean’s not surprised because it seems like a wheeling is something that happens every day. (In fact it does). Bean slowly straightens up, and then she says, “We should do something to honor him. I’ve heard that at funerals in the backtimes people said things about the dead person. Eulogies, they called them. I think we should do something like that. Not a full-blown funeral,” she adds quickly. “Just some little speeches to say goodbye.”

Lanaya looks at her in awe. “Bean, I do believe you are the smartest person I have ever met.” Then she goes and puts an arm around her. “That’s a wonderful idea. When should we do it?” Lanaya looks at me, like she’s waiting for my decision.

“Well, we could do it now, since we’re all here.” I say.

“That’s right. There’s no time like the present,” and Lanaya switches to her taking-charge mode. “Right, we need to find a place where we can do the eulogy; Maybe at his stackbox?” I shake my head.

“It was burned in the fire.”

“Could we go to Eden?” Bean asks hopefully.

“No, people are patrolling the borders now on both sides.” Lanaya says sadly. “It took a whole lot of convincing to allow us to get here.”  
We’re all silent for a little while, and I think that Lanaya and Little Face are really brave to come and see us. They risked their lives for us. I think for a little bit longer, and then it hits me—the perfect place for the eulogy. “Come on!” I say. “I know a place.” They all look at me, confused, as I turn and run toward the Edge and the Pipe. We stop as the Forbidden Zone looms ahead—a whole stretch of nothingness filled with cold gray fog. It’s scary, but I think Ryter would have wanted us to be here. We dared to hope for something different, something better. I think he would’ve liked that.

***

I stop at the Pipe, the place where Ryter and I first began our journey to change the world and write the last book in the universe. I think Little Face knows where we are; he’s kind of bouncing up and down a little, but he isn’t saying “chox” anymore. I look around at my friends, and then I turn on my voicewriter. “This is Spaz,” I say. “And I’m here with Bean, Little Face, and Lanaya to say goodbye to the Ryter. We’re at the Pipe, which symbolizes beginnings, because that’s where the Ryter and I began our quest to help Bean. Ryter would probably say that an end of something is a new beginning of something else. I don’t know about that, but I’ll take his word for it.” I stop and nod at Lanaya so she can say something. She bites her lip and takes my hand, and I think this is the first time I’ve ever seen anything like doubt in her sky-colored eyes. Then she takes a breath and says,

“I am Lanaya, a child of Eden, and when I first met Spaz and Ryter that’s all I told them about me. I am ashamed now to admit that I believed myself superior to them based on all that I’ve noticed while visiting the Urb.” She stops here and looks at us, then she bows her head and softly goes, “But I was wrong. As soon as Ryter spoke to me, I could feel the immense power of his kindness and knowledge.... And for the first time, I realized that normals were people too. I came to depend on his wisdom to understand things on our journey, and I listened carefully to everything he said. He taught me so much, and I—I still can’t quite believe he’s gone. Goodbye, Ryter. Thank you for the best journey of my life.” Lanaya looks questioningly at me, like, did she do well? I squeeze her hand and nod slightly. 

Now it’s Little Face’s turn. I don’t know what he knows how to say, but I’m not really surprised when he busts out with, “Chox!” and then puts his choxbar on the ground. I tell him there’s no grave here so he might as well eat it, but he just looks at me solemnly and purposely backs away. Bean’s eulogy is the best in my opinion. Not that Lanaya’s wasn’t good, but here’s what Bean said:

“I remember when we visited Eden and how Ryter, Spaz, Little Face, and Lanaya all saved my life. I think about it often, and I’m so glad they came to help me. When we were sitting by the apple trees and Ryter was worrying that he wouldn’t be able to finish his book, I said to him: ‘But would it ever really be finished? I thought the book was your life…except it won’t really end, because people will read it and remember, so in a way you’ll live forever’ (Philbrick 194). I think that’s true for everyone’s story, even if they don’t write it. Ryter was special, though. He knew how to find a story and put it on paper for everyone to read. That’s blue magic. You have to love it. I did then and still do today.”

Now there is silence, as we all think about the Ryter, and it’s as if we can see him, standing there nodding at us and grinning crazily. I love that old geez. And it’s like, now when thinking about him, I’m not as sad anymore because I’ll always be able to remember all the zoomed things he did and said. I look at Lanaya and Little Face and Bean and I know they’re thinking it too. I feel like a googan because I’ve started smiling, but then Lanaya reaches out to me again and so does Bean. Little Face has grabbed onto Lanaya’s other hand and now we’re all holding hands and laughing. This is it, I think. This is what the Ryter gave us. He gave us all more reasons to laugh.


End file.
